


Entities

by kristsune



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, an attempt at horror, and obi wan cares about the clones, attachment be damned, but not specifically written, codywan if you squint, either way cody cares a lot about his general, house of leaves was definitely an inspiration for creepy house shenanigans, though its probably more thriller than horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-17
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-11-15 07:52:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11226564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kristsune/pseuds/kristsune
Summary: Obi-wan finds a house that has an unusual force presence, him Cody and Loudmouth check it out.





	Entities

**Author's Note:**

> Ok this all started thanks to this [post.](https://kristsune.tumblr.com/post/161140029184/roachpatrol-i-like-this-a-whole-lot) This is my first attempt at horror, please be kind. Huge shout out to [Jesse](http://thebisexualmandalorian.tumblr.com/) and [Stacey](http://shadow-spires.tumblr.com/) for cheering me on. The book House of Leaves, and a 00Q fic (which i cannot find at the moment) were definitely things I thought about while writing this. Please enjoy. Loudmouth belongs to Jesse.

Cody sighed as they stood in front of the old dilapidated building. Half of the 212th had been stuck on this planet for _days_ waiting for pickup. Most of the crew was enjoying the reprieve by napping, playing sabacc, or just shooting the shit. There was plenty of edible game, so food wasn’t an issue, in fact, they were eating better than normal.  

But here Cody was, standing between General Kenobi and Loudmouth, staring at a building that looked like one strong breeze would knock it over. Kenobi had been staring at it ever since he first set eyes on it. Cody caught him approaching it and just  _ knew  _ that he was about to get himself into trouble. 

Loudmouth had been lounging next to him, drawing more intricate flowers in the dirt that anyone should be able to achieve with just a stick. Cody recruited him in following the General, knowing that one: he was dependable, and two: he was one of the few that seemed to have any effect in corralling Kenobi. Something about the bright smile and wide green eyes that could get him to _listen_.   

“Why are we here again, General?” Cody asked, not taking his eyes off of the building.  

“Well, Cody,  _ I  _ am here, because there is something…  _ strange _ , happening with the force in this building. It’s been bothering me since we set up camp. But, why  _ you _ , or our friend Loudmouth is here? Well that, I am not sure of.”

Cody had to work not to roll his eyes, “If you think,  _ Sir _ , that I am going to let you enter that building by yourself, you are even more sleep deprived than I thought.” Loudmouth couldn’t quite hide his huff of laughter, and Cody was glad for it. Maybe Kenobi would realize he wasn’t the only one who noticed. 

Cody sighed “Well, Sir, if you’re determined, we might as well get this over with.”

“Don’t sound so enthusiastic.” Kenobi sassed right back at him. 

They started up the steps, crossed over the threshold, and into another dimension. At least, that was what it felt like to Cody. And from the Loudmouth’s nervous look, he felt the same. Naturally, Kenobi just looked curious. 

Brightly lit hallways went off in two different directions, looking longer than they had any right to. A split set of stairs going both up and down in front of them, and the windows that had been on the outside were not reflected on the inside.

“Interesting.” 

 Loudmouth was looking around, hand on his still holstered blaster, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” 

“You and me both, vod.” Cody muttered. He turned to Kenobi, “Did you see what you need General? Can we go now?” 

Kenobi turned towards him, “Unfortunately, Commander, I don’t believe that is an option at the moment.”

Cody whipped around to see only smooth wall behind them where the door had been not two minutes ago. “Kriffing hells.”

“Since we don’t seem to have another option, why don’t we take a look around.” Kenobi said as he was peeking up the stairway.

“Fine, but we are _staying together_.” Cody went as far to pointing at his general. He knew that look all too well.  

“All too right, Cody. Wouldn’t do to get split up here.” he was still looking around, but pointedly not touching anything. At least he still had a little sense in that bearded head of his. 

They headed right, down the hallway, boots making soft scuffing noises on the dark carpet. Both Cody and Loudmouth set up recording the path they took, so they were able to backtrack if needed.

After reaching the end of the hall, which took much longer than any of their long strides should have taken, the only option was another right. They found an identical hallway that looked impossibly longer than the first.

“Uhh, Sirs? I really didn’t think this building was this large from the outside.” Loudmouth was still looking nervous, but his hands were steady, and eyes sharp. 

“No, Loudmouth. It most definitely was not.” They continued down the hallway, each of the clones flanking their general, “The Force is  _ bending _ strangely throughout the building.” 

They came to a four way intersection, identical hallways in each direction. They chose left this time, making sure to log it. 

Every turn they made, they just found hallway after hallway, again and again. No doors, no windows, not even another stairway like they had initially encountered. Just seemingly endless hallways, with brightly lit sconces evenly spaced throughout. All three of them were on high alert, even Kenobi had given up his look of curiosity, and his forehead creased in worry. 

Time seemed to move differently within the building. According to Cody’s chrono, they had only been walking for a few minutes, but it had felt like they had been in there for at least a couple hours before they ran into something other than empty hallway. 

They turned a corner to find halfway down the hallway was flooded. At first glance it looked like normal water, but as they slowly made their way closer, even Cody could tell there was something Other about it. 

It was dark, and perfectly mirrored. It was supernaturally still, there was no breeze in this place, but it wasn’t even picking up the reverberations of their footsteps, keeping that smooth, even surface.

“Any ideas, General?” Kenobi hadn’t taken his eyes off of the entity since they entered the current hallway. Loudmouth was keeping an eye on their six, while Cody split his focus between the liquid and his General. 

“I-I can’t get a good read on it. It definitely has a presence in the force, but the way everything feels in here. I can’t tell what it is.” Kenobi looked so  _ lost  _ at the thought of a being with a presence in the Force that he couldn’t parse out.

Which was when Cody noticed the liquid creeping towards them, he wrapped a hand around Kenobi’s wrist, “I think we need to go, General.” He didn’t move, just stood there staring at the liquid oozing closer with an unreadable look on his face, “General Kenobi?” 

Nothing. 

“Obi-wan, _please_.”  

Kenobi finally looked at him, and then over at Loudmouth’s worried face. “Yes, of course. Let’s see if we can find our way out of here.” 

They started back down the hallway at a fast walk, as they were turning the corner, Cody looked back, to see the not-water still moving towards them, faster than before. He didn’t stick around long to find out how fast it was going to go, and double timed it after Kenobi and Loudmouth. 

They followed their own logged path back, but every hallway seemed to be longer than the last. Cody brought up the rear, and at every turn he glanced back, only to see the dark liquid gaining on them.

Cody picked up his pace, placing a hand at Kenobi’s back, letting him know he was there, “Faster. Now.” 

After the next turn Loudmouth, who was on point, screeched to a halt, almost causing Kenobi and Cody to run into him. “Sorry, Sirs. This way is blocked.”   


Cody looked around to see the liquid coming in fast in front of them as well as behind, “Quick, back to the last turn, we can branch off from there.” Cody had no idea how they were going to get out of there but he grabbed Loudmouth’s shoulder to turn him around, and get him back on point. He wanted to keep the General protected on both sides, whatever it was about this place seemed to be affecting his reaction time.

 Except when they turned down the branch point, the liquid was already moving towards them.

 “Karking hells” Cody whispered. They were stuck at an intersection, surrounded by the oncoming liquid on all four sides. 

Cody and Loudmouth were doing their best to keep Kenobi in the center. In his peripheral, Cody saw Kenobi shake his head like he was trying to clear it. 

“I- I think it’s trying to  _ help _ .” Kenobi sounded like he was struggling to form his words, like he was talking through a fog. 

“If this is helping us, I’m not sure what I want to know what hurting us would look like.” Loudmouth said, while shifting his gaze from side to side, trying to keep an eye on the liquid. 

As the liquid got closer, Cody could see that rather than the “easiest path taken” type of movement liquids usually took, this moved with a  _ purpose _ . It eased around Cody’s boots and headed towards Kenobi. 

General Kenobi gasped, when the liquid flowed up and over his boot. He grabbed onto both Loudmouth and Cody’s shoulders, as his legs tried to give out from under him. 

Both Cody and Loudmouth reached around Kenobi’s waist to hold him up. His eyes were wide open, but unseeing. “They’re alive, they’ve been guarding this place beyond recorded time. Keeping the Other in check. They’re beautiful. So much knowledge, but so much sadness.” 

The liquid was up past Kenobi’s knees, and had started up both of the clones boots. Cody found he was surprised at how warm it was, even though it wasn’t actually reaching through his armor. 

General Kenobi was crying openly. Tears that fell on the liquid entity hung suspended on the surface for a moment, before being absorbed. 

It continued to flow up all three of them, past knees, hips and up to their chest. It didn’t feel restricting or claustrophobic, just warm. Like it would be comforting in a different situation. 

Both Cody and Loudmouth tightened their grip on Kenobi when the liquid surged up and over their arms, afraid that the liquid might try and force them apart. 

Cody and Loudmouth shared a look, just as the liquid reached over the top of their blacks. A look that said it had been an honor to fight beside each other. An honor to protect the General and the Republic beside each other. To die beside each other. 

They clasped their free hands, and took a deep breath just as the liquid closed over their heads.

 

Then there was silence.

Cody could distantly tell he was still holding onto both General Kenobi and Loudmouth, but everything was isolated, quiet. It felt almost like they were floating in zero gee. There was a sadness that Cody couldn’t explain that permeated everything. 

Cody wasn’t sure how long they stayed suspended in that space, whether it was a few minutes, a few hours, or all of eternity. It felt safe. There was no war, no battle, no death. Just endless stillness. But it also felt so alone. No vode, no background chatter, no laughter. Cody couldn’t imagine never feeling anything other than this. 

It may be messy out there, but at least he wasn’t  _ alone. _

 

 

Cody was on his hands and knees coughing up what felt like an entire lung’s worth of water. Kenobi was on his side next to him, and Loudmouth was in a similar situation as Cody on the other side. As soon as Cody could breathe, he checked on Kenobi. He had a strong pulse and breathing normally. 

Cody sighed in relief and rested his forehead on Kenobi’s chest for a brief moment, beyond relieved that his General was still alive. He looked up at Loudmouth, who was trying to get his comm to work. Cody didn’t mention the slight tremor in his hands, Cody’s were doing the same.

“No visual, Sir, but sent a homing signal. I don’t  _ think _ we are too far away from camp, so we shouldn’t have to wait long.” Loudmouth informed him.

Cody finally looked around at their surroundings, they were on the bank of a medium sized lake that Cody vaguely remembered seeing during the briefing. There was no sign of the house or the camp. 

General Kenobi gasped and sat bolt upright, almost headbutting Cody in the process. Loudmouth and Cody each placed a hand on his shoulders to steady him.

“You alright, Sir?” 

Kenobi took a few moments to actually focus _on_ Cody, rather than looking _through_ him.   

“I-” he shook his head to clear it, “Are you both alright?” 

Loudmouth nodded to Cody, “We’re both fine, Sir. You didn’t answer the question.” Cody had dealt with the General avoiding questions about himself for way too long to allow him to dodge him this time. 

“I’m fine Cody. Just a little shaken.” Kenobi replied, voice shaky.

Ahh, the downplay. A classic. 

“Well, we are just going to wait here for transport. Loudmouth sent a homing beacon. There is time for you to  _ rest _ .” Cody purposefully didn’t ask about the house or the liquid. If Kenobi wanted to share, he would, but it obviously shook him up pretty seriously, and Cody did not want to force him through that again if he didn’t want to.

Naturally, Kenobi’s thought process went in the absolute opposite direction. 

“I apologize for my actions earlier today. I should not have allowed you to follow me into that building.”

Cody had to work to not scoff in the face of his General. “You really expected us to let you go in there alone?”

“You put yourselves in danger every day, it was not my place to put you in that situation for no reason other than my curiosity.” Kenobi was genuinely sorry for his actions, and Cody didn’t have the heart to take that away from him. 

“Thank you, Sir. I’m sure you’ll keep that in mind next time we run into strange looking buildings that give off an unusual force presence.”

Kenobi’s eyes went distant again, “The strangest presence I have ever encountered.  There was a strange set of checks and balances between the house and the liquid entity. Neither of them were outright good or evil. But neither were true neutral either. I am sorry to say, I am unsure of how we got out of there. I was … more than a little absorbed by the entities, and don’t remember much after the liquid entity started following us. 

Cody had a vague flash of somewhere dark, and lonely, and peaceful, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. 

“I’m not sure either, General.” Cody looked over at Loudmouth who shrugged. “Though it doesn’t seem to matter at this point. We are out, and safe.”

Kenobi gave them each a small smile, before settling in a meditative pose as he closed his eyes. Cody knew it wasn’t a snub, he just needed to think.

Waxer and Boil show up on a speeder a little while later. Kenobi was still meditating, while Cody and Loudmouth were attempting to play a relaxed game of sabacc with the diminished deck Loudmouth had in his belt pouch.

“How in the nine hells did you get all the way over here?” Boil asked as they stepped out of the speeder. 

Waxer rolled his eyes, “What Boil means is: how in the nine hells did you get all the way over here in such a short time?”

“We know Jetiise have their ways, but that seemed a bit extreme, even for the overachieving General here.” Boil added thumb pointing at General Kenobi.

Kenobi sighed as Cody helped him stand, which was honestly telling in itself as to how he was feeling. 

“Boil, you know that’s not how it works.” Cody reprimanded without any heat. 

Cody looked up sharply at Waxer and Boil. “How long were we gone?”  

Waxer answered, “From when you walked away from camp til we got the homing signal from Loudmouth was only about fifteen minutes.”

“And how far away are we?”

“About fifty klicks to the south.” 

Cody, Loudmouth and Kenobi share a look of mild shock before getting into the speeder. 

Kenobi said as they started back to camp, “Be sure to tell the troops the house to the north of camp is off limits. It’s… a doozy.”


End file.
